Displaying items by tag: Spain
Plenty to mull over this week in Cembureau’s newly published Activity Report for 2016. The association pulls together data from a variety of places including its own sources, Eurostat and Euroconstruct. For competition reasons much of it stops in 2015 but it paints a compelling picture of a continental cement industry starting to find its feet again.
Graph 1: Cement intensity of the construction sector in Europe, 2000 – 2015. Source: Cembureau calculation based on Eurostat and Euroconstruct in Activity Report for 2016.
The really interesting data concerns so-called cement intensity. This is the quantity of cement consumed per billion Euro invested in construction. Figures calculated by Cembureau from data from Eurostat and Eurocontruct show that cement intensity has remained stable in Germany, France and the UK but that it fell sharply in Spain and Italy from 2000 to 2015. In other words the pattern of construction changed in these countries. One suggestion for this that Cembureau offers is that construction moved from new projects to renovation and maintenance. These types of construction projects require less cement than new builds. Seen in this context the huge production over capacities seen in Italy and Spain in recent years makes sense as the local cement industries have coped with both the economic crash and a step change in their national construction markets.
Further data in the report falls in line with the impression given by the multinational cement producers in their quarterly and annual financial reports. Cement production picked up in the Cembureau member states from 2012 and in the European Union members (EU28) from 2013. Meanwhile, import and export figures disentangled from a close relationship at the time of the financial crash in 2008 with imports of cement declining and exports increasing markedly. Much of it will have originated from Italy and Spain as their industries coped with the changes. Cembureau then forecasts that cement consumption will rise in 2017 by 2.4% and 3.5% in 2018 in the 19 countries than form the Euroconstruct network. A key point to note here is that most of the larger European economies will see consumption consistently grow in 2017 and 2018 with the exception of France where it growth will remain positive but it will slow somewhat in 2018. This fits with last week’s column about France with the early reports from LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Vicat reporting slight declines in sales volumes so far in 2017.
Cembureau’s country-by-country analysis also provides a good overview of its member industries. Looking at the larger economies, residential construction was the main driver for cement consumption in France and Germany in 2016. In Germany further growth is hoped for from an increased infrastructure budget set by the Federal Government. Italian cement consumption fell in 2016 and further decreases are anticipated for 2017, particularly from the public sector. By contrast though the story in Spain is still one of declining cement consumption but one heavily mitigated by exports. Spain is the described by Cembureau as the leading EU export country. Finally, there’s little recent on the UK other than uncertainty concerns about the Brexit process and an anticipated rise in infrastructure spending by 2019. The sparse detail here is probably for the best given the current political deadlock in the UK following the continued fallout from the general election in early June 2017.
In summary, Cembureau’s data shows that modest growth is happening in the cement industries of its member countries. It’s not uniform and some nations such as Spain and Italy are coping with changes in the composition of their industries. Cembureau also highlights the unpredictable consequences of the UK’s departure from the EU as one of the biggest risks in 2017. Check out the report for more information.
Spain: Cementos Cosmos has stopped exports from its Niebla cement plant due to an increase in the price of petcoke. The subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim has also implemented a Temporary Regulation of Employment from June 2017 to May 2018 that will enable it to suspend workers or reduce working hours, according to the Huelva Información newspaper. The cement producer says it is waiting for planning permission to install a dosing system for waste fuels that will cut it fuel bill. However, the local community has opposed attempts to use alternative waste fuels previously.
LafargeHolcim establishes new European Works Council
28 March 2017Switzerland: LafargeHolcim and employee representatives in Europe have established a new European Works Council (EWC). The forum for consultation and dialogue at a transnational level will bring together worker representatives from 19 countries with senior leaders from LafargeHolcim.
“People are essential to the success of LafargeHolcim and our commitment to social dialogue through the new European Works Council is testament to this. During a period of transformation, we recognise that ensuring the full commitment, mobilisation, and engagement of our employees is a key building block for success,” said Eric Olsen, chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim.
The EWC was established based on an agreement signed by Olsen and Executive Committee members Caroline Luscombe, responsible for Organisation and Human Resources and Roland Köhler, responsible for Europe, Australia / New Zealand and Trading as well as Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers EFBWW, among other management and employee representatives. Chaired by Köhler, the EWC replaces the previous European Works Councils. Countries represented in the EWC include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Cementos Molins continues to grow profit in 2016
03 March 2017Spain: Cementos Molins’s profit rose by 25.6% year-on-year to Euro63.9m in 2016 from Euro50.8m in 2015. However, its sales revenue fell by 12% to Euro561m from Euro638m and its cement and clinker sales volumes fell slightly to 13.7Mt. The cement producer blamed the result on poor sales in Argentina, Uruguay and Tunisia.
LafargeHolcim Montcada i Reixac cement plant to celebrate 100th anniversary in 2017
13 February 2017Spain: LafargeHolcim’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant in Catalonia is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2017. A number of events will be held throughout the year to mark the centenary of the establishment of the plant by local industrialist Eusebi Güell including an exhibition at the Castellar de n’Hug Cement Museum. LafargeHolcim says that the plant contributed over Euro18m to the local economy in 2016.
Cementos Portland Valderrivas makes loss of Euro225m in 2016
07 February 2017Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has made a loss of Euro225m in 2016. It increased from a loss of Euro62m in 2015. It reported that its sales fell by 7.6% year-on-year to Euro536m in 2016 from Euro580m in 2015. It attributed this to the sale of its US subsidiary, Giant Cement, falling sales in Tunisia, a decrease in the value of the Tunisian dinar and rising fuel prices.
The cement producer’s sales volumes of cement fell slightly to 7.2Mt in 2016. However, once sales from Giant Cement are removed then, its sales volumes rose by 1.6% due to a 49% increase in exports from Spain. This compensated for declining markets in Spain and Tunisia.
The cement producer said that overall cement consumption in Spain fell by 3.1% to 11.1Mt in 2016, although this was partially offset by exports rising by 5.6% to 9.8Mt. Reduced domestic demand and rising exports have led to clinker production rising slightly in 2016 to 17Mt. It added that cement consumption increases were slowing down in the US, although the regions its subsidiary Giant Cement operates in reported above average increases of almost 11% to November 2016 in the South East, Mid Atlantic and New England regions. In Tunisia it reported that the market fell by 3.9% to 7.2Mt and that exports to Algeria and Libya had fallen.
Spain: LafargeHolcim’s Sagunto cement plant in Valencia cut its production by nearly 10% in 2016 due to a fall in exports to Algeria. The plant exports 85% of its production and Algeria cut its imports by half, according to the Expansión newspaper. The plant is considering new export destinations including Colombia. However, its permit to mine aggregates from the Salt de Llop quarry is due to expire in December 2017 and the local government is reportedly not keen to renew it.
Market report places demand for materials handling equipment at US$1.6bn outside of China
07 November 2016Spain: A market report examining the buying behaviour of the cement industry for materials handling systems has calculated that the market potential for relevant equipment comprises US$1.6bn, excluding China. The ‘Materials Handling Systems 2020’ report by OneStone Consulting analyses projects between 2013 and 2015 in 15 product categories for nine territories around the world. The product categories include crushers, stacker/reclaimers, apron and belt conveyors, belt and chain bucket elevators, pneumatic conveyors, dosing/weigh-feeding, storage systems, packers, palletisers, mechanical mixers and ship unloaders.
Cementos Portland Valderrivas board approves sale of Giant Cement Holding to Elementia
31 October 2016US: The board of Cementos Portland Valderrivas (CPV) has approved the sale of a 55% stake in its US subsidiary Giant Cement Holding to Elementia. The deal includes a US$220m capital increase in Giant Cement with subscription rights granted to Elementia, according to SeeNews. Elementia will also extend a loan of around US$305m to Giant Cement. In addition CPV will transfer up to US$66m in loans to Giant Cement to keep its remaining stake in the American cement producer at 45%.
Cemengal introduces Plug&Grind X-treme to product range
06 October 2016Spain: Cemengal has introduced a new model to its range of modular and potable grinding stations, the Plug&Grind X-treme, the fourth generation in the series. The new addition has a production capacity of 50t/hr or 0.4Mt/yr. The concept still remains the same, with only eight containers and six modules. It includes a XP4 I classifier from Magotteaux.